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Tony Petitti | |
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| Born | New York City, U.S. |
| Education | Haverford College (BA) Harvard Law School (JD) |
| Title | Big Ten Commissioner |
| Term | May 15, 2023 - present |
| Predecessor | Kevin Warren |
Tony Petitti is an American sports executive who is the 7th commissioner of theBig Ten Conference in collegiate sports, holding the position since May 15, 2023.
He was formerly thechief operating officer ofMajor League Baseball. He succeededRob Manfred in the position on January 25, 2015, after Manfred became Commissioner of Baseball. He previously served as the president and chief executive officer ofMLB Network, where he oversaw all of the network's day-to-day operations, and was the former president of sports and entertainment ofActivision Blizzard.
Petitti grew up inQueens, the son of anNYPD officer. Petitti became the first person in his family to attend college, attendingHaverford College, where he majored in economics and earned abachelor's degree in 1983.[1][2] He then earned aJuris Doctor degree fromHarvard Law School in 1986.[3]
Petitti worked for two years at the law firm ofCadwalader, Wickersham & Taft before joiningABC Sports in 1988 as general attorney. In 1994, he was named vice president of programming, where he was responsible for acquiring and scheduling ABC Sports programming, and served in that role through 1996.[citation needed]
Petitti was hired byCBS in 1997 as senior vice president of business affairs and programming. In December 2005, Pettiti was named executive vice president, CBS Sports, "responsible for all day-to-day operations of CBS Sports,"[4] where he was largely responsible for the network'sNFL coverage. "Basically, I’m responsible for everything you see on Sunday."[5] It was announced on January 3, 2008, that Petitti would be placed in charge of day-to-day operations ofCSTV, the college sports network that was absorbed into CBS Sports, effectively replacing network co-founderBrian Bedol, who had been serving as president of CSTV since the network was purchased byCBS Corporation in 2005. CSTV was renamed theCBS College Sports Network on March 16, 2008, and eventually evolved to becomeCBS Sports Network.
In April 2008 Pettiti leftCBS to become the head ofMLB Network, which launched in January 2009.[6]
Petitti left MLB after more than a decade to take a job as president of sports and entertainment at gaming giant Activison Blizzard in the Sports and Entertainment Sector.[7] He left Activision Blizzard in mid-2021 after less than a year in the role.[7]
Petitti in 2022 joined the football analysis company The 33rd Team.[8]
Petitti was named the Big Ten Conference's seventh commissioner in April 2023. He began work on May 15, 2023.[9] During his tenure, he continued theexpansion begun by his predecessor,Kevin Warren, by addingWashington andOregon to the conference, beginning with the 2024 season.[10]